60 Songs That Explain the '90s

NAMED A BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2023 by PITCHFORK, VARIETY, AND ROLLING STONE

A companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify, this book takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade. 

The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.

Rob Harvilla has been a professional rock critic for 20-plus years with stops at SPIN, Deadspin, The Village Voice and various other alt-weeklies that no longer exist. He has been with The Ringer since spring 2016, published in the Best Music Writing series, broadcast on NPR, and tapped as a guest for other prominent pods ranging from the New York Times Popcast to Bandsplain to Vanessa Bayer's How Did We Get Weird. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, by choice.